thyme Archives

Butternut recipes

Beer-braised lamb shank and rosemary veloute

2½ hours

Beer Food

Wild mushroom ragout on herb mash

Apple recipes

Ham, apple and sweet potato pie

1 hour

Slow roast

Lamb shanks in patterned phyllo blankets

2 hours 15 minutes

Sausage recipes

Orange chicken with ginger, cinnamon, cumin, parsnips and pears on barley pilau

50 minutes

Tempura cherry tomatoes, miso onion puree and gorgonzola cream

30 minutes

Coarse pork and herb terrine

1¾ hours, plus chilling overnight

Upside-down roast chicken with farm-style vegetables

Serves 4

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cooking Time 1 hour

Ingredients

1 free-range chicken
800 g mixed butternut, potatoes and onions, cut into chunks
3 cloves garlic
A few springs fresh thyme
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil, for drizzling

For the basil oil, pound together:

30 g basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ cup olive oil
A squeeze of lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Cut out the backbone of the chicken. Chop off the legs, thighs and wings and snip off the wing tips. Set aside.

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the vegetables on the tray in a single layer. Add the chicken pieces then scatter with one clove crushed garlic, some thyme and seasoning. Moisten with olive oil.

Split the rest of the chicken down the back. Cover both halves with baking paper, then give them a good thump to flatten as much as possible. Remove the baking paper, moisten both halves with olive oil and season with salt.

Place the chicken, skin-side down, in a welloiled roasting pan. Smear the bony side with the remaining crushed garlic and season lightly with pepper. Tuck in sprigs of thyme.

Place both pans in the oven and bake the vegetables and chicken pieces for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and starting to char and the chicken pieces are crisp. The rest of the chicken needs at least 1 hour. Serve with the vegetables and drizzle with basil oil.

Cook’s note: The basil oil is delicious drizzled over grilled fish. You could also use a storebought pesto.

TASTE’s take:

Everyone’s favourite, made all the better with a splash of home-made basil oil.

Spinach lasagne

Roast potato-and-sweetcorn salad with creamy Cajun dressing

Isibindi nomhlehlo (braaied lamb’s liver and fat)

Snoek and trout chowder with corn scones

Winter vegetable open lasagne

Beer-braised lamb shank and rosemary veloute

Milk stout risotto

Wild mushroom ragout on herb mash

Ham, apple and sweet potato pie

Lamb shanks in patterned phyllo blankets

Pork or lamb bangers and mash

Orange chicken with ginger, cinnamon, cumin, parsnips and pears on barley pilau

Tempura cherry tomatoes, miso onion puree and gorgonzola cream

Coarse pork and herb terrine

Upside-down roast chicken with farm-style vegetables

Upside-down roast chicken with farm-style vegetables

Ingredients

Method